Welcome to TravelSmart  

CURRENT NEWS:

Stop at Library for Free Power & Air (RV)

No more flat batteries or tyres! A free public battery recharge station and tyre pump for ‘Gophers’/motorised scooters/wheelchairs/bicycles is now available, just off Albany Highway, Victoria Park at the entrance to the Town of Victoria Park Library in Sussex Street. Available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.   

Launched in February, funding for this new facility was made available by the Australian Government Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government under the $250-million Regional and Local Community Infrastructure Program.

You can also take advantage of more handy “Life Cycle Pump” facilities that have only just been installedat Fraser Park, Harold Rossiter Park and at the Albany Highway entrance to Centro Victoria Park.Pictured left to right: Brian Mayne  & Town TravelSmart Officer, Andrea Callaghan trying out the new facilities. Gopher supplied for the day byScooters Australia in Lathlain.

 TravelSmart in Victoria Park

The Town of Victoria Park participated in the TravelSmart Household program in 2006 and successfully reduced car travel overall by 5% (from 78% to 73%). Environmentally friendly modes of travel increased from 22% to 27% (up 5%).¹ So well done and let's keep it going!  We want to encourage residents to ask themselves whether they need to drive everywhere all the time.

The Town of Victoria Park's Commitment to TravelSmart

The Town is actively involved in providing infrastructure that encourages you to walk, cycle and use public transport.  Pedestrian friendly retail precincts, pedestrian crossings, upgrading of bus shelters, improvements to cycling paths and on road bike shoulders, provision of bicycle parking facilities around the Town, and the ongoing improvement of shared paths, are just some of the infrastructure programs that the Town works on continuously.  TravelSmart prizes, programs, events and information are also provided by the Town to schools, community and businesses.

If you are thinking of switching to sustainable travel and would like some more information, support or encouragement on how to make the switch, contact the Transport Officer on 9311 8148 or emailtravelsmart@vicpark.wa.gov.au The Town have a good range of resources such as local cycling maps and car pooling options,

Remember - if a lot of people make little changes, it adds  up to big benefits on  many fronts.

Background to TravelSmart 

TravelSmart is a program that aims to help make it easy for people who want to walk, cycle, take public transport or car pool more often, to do so through the provision of good information on how to switch to these alternative travel modes....encouraging you to ask yourself "Do I need to drive everywhere all the time?".

The program was started by the Department for Planning and Infrastructure (DPI) and by 2007 it had been delivered to 3,500,000 people across the world. It is considered an extremely successful program that works in helping people take up more sustainable travel more often.  Now a program based on similar behaviour change techniques, called "Living Smart" is being delivered by the DPI to help people who want to save household energy and water as well as car travel.

TravelSmart is based on the principal that small individual travel behaviour changes make a big difference overall and counters the common view that the problem is too big for an individual to make a difference.  For example, if everyone who now drives to work each day chose to travel sustainably once a week, there would immediately be 20% fewer cars on the road.  This would mean 20% less air pollution, 20% congestion, less traffic accidents, and 20% less more people taking alternative transport with all the associated benefits.

State Government 

About 80% of trips by Perth residents are made by car, usually as a single driver occupant 40% of these car trips are considered necessary. Research shows that good alternatives exist for another 40% of our current car trips with the driving habit  and a lack of information influencing peoples' travel choices.

To learn more about TravelSmart in Western Australia, go to the Department for Planning and Infrastructure TravelSmart pages.

Federal Government 

The Australia Governments TravelSmart website is available here.

What's the Problem with Driving all the Time Anyway?

Our reliance on the car means that a huge proportion of our city is dedicated to roads and car parks, and of course people are always wanting more and better roads and more and bigger car parks.  The demand for more roads and more car parks can never be met without turning cities into solid bitumen monstrosities.  Additionally, we are, as a population, using vast quantities of oil - a non-renewable resource which contributes to climate change.  Peak oil is looming.  Driving everywhere all the time is costly financially, environmentally and has many adverse consequences for our physical and psychological health.  There are a myriad of reason why not driving everywhere all the time makes good sense.

¹ Department for Planning and Infrastructure, TravelSmart Household Final Evaluation Report, Town of Victoria Park, November 2007